A computer-based method and system for selectively triggering client actions including: providing directions for obtaining client instructions, from a content provider to a client device, over a network, in response to a content request from the client device, providing the client instructions to the client device, receiving an initial image request at the computer-based management server from the client device wherein the initial image request is submitted by the client device upon execution of the client instructions, and composing and sending a beacon from the computer-based management system to the client device in response to the initial image request with the properties of the beacon triggering the client selection and execution of the action.
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12. A computer-based client management system comprising:
an instruction server for providing client instructions to a client device over a network in response to a request for client instructions from the client device, with the client instructions comprising instructions to the client device to send an initial image request to the computer-based client management system; and,
a beacon provider for composing and sending a beacon from the management system to the client device in response to the initial image request from the client device, wherein the properties of the beacon are configured to trigger the client device to select and execute an action described in the client instructions, wherein composing and sending the beacon includes:
selecting the action for execution at the client device by the client management system;
identifying the beacon configuration for triggering the client device to select and execute the action; and,
configuring the properties of the beacon to match the identified beacon configuration.
1. A computer-based method for selectively triggering a client action, the computer-based method comprising the steps of:
receiving an initial image request at the computer-based management system server from a client device over a network wherein the initial image request is submitted by the client device as directed by of the client instructions obtained by the client device based on instructions from a content provider;
selecting the client action for execution at the client device, by the computer-based management system;
identifying the beacon configuration for triggering the client device to select and execute the client action described in the client instruction; and,
configuring the properties of the beacon to match the identified beacon configuration; and
sending the beacon from the computer-based management system to the client device in response to the initial image request wherein the one or more properties of the beacon are configured to trigger the client device to select and execute the client action described in the client instructions.
2. The method of
3. The method of
7. The method of
8. The method of
9. The method of
10. The method of
11. The method of
13. The system of
a receipt module for receiving additional image requests generated by the client device.
14. The system of
15. The system of
16. The system of
17. The system of
18. The system of
19. The system of
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The present application is a Continuation-In-Part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/163,749, filed on Jun. 27, 2008, entitled “System and Method for Multibeaconing”, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The invention relates to methods and systems for client management from a management system and specifically for triggering client devices to select and execute actions on the client.
Visitor interaction with networked resources such as web sites or networked e-mail is often tracked on behalf of the content servers by third party servers using beacons. Beacons are also known as tracking pixels or clear GIFs (Graphics Interchange Format). When a client device requests content from a content server, the content server directs the client device to submit an image request which includes a request for the beacon from a third party server. The image request may provide the third party server with client information and it can enable the third party server to receive, set or re-set client tracking identifiers such as third party cookies. In response to the image request, the third party server may also send a usually small (usually one pixel wide and one pixel high) and often transparent or inconspicuous beacon to the client device for display on an output device associated with the client device.
Third party servers may be involved in delivering a variety of services such as the collection of web metrics or the delivery of advertising. Directing image requests to third party servers may be accomplished by directing the client device to download a client script, such as a JavaScript™ script, when content is provided by a content provider. For example, the client script may include instructions to send image requests to each third party server in a list of hard coded third party servers. However, hard coded solutions do not provide desirable flexibility.
What is needed is a system and method for centrally managing and administering flexible actions from a third party server which is simple to adopt.
A method and system for selectively triggering actions at a client device includes providing directions for obtaining client instructions, from a content provider to a client device, over a network, in response to a content request from the client device. According to the current invention, the client instructions can be provided over the network from the management system to the client device in response to a request for client instructions from the client device, with the request for client instructions submitted by the client device based on the directions. An initial image request is received at the management system from the client device over the network wherein the initial image request is submitted by the client device upon execution of the client instructions. The management system composes and sends a beacon to the client device in response to the initial image request, causing the configuration of a storage device at the client device for storing a representation of the beacon, wherein the properties of the beacon are configured to trigger the client instructions to instruct the client device to select and execute an action described in the client instruction. Examples of properties can include, but are not limited to, the height, width, area, perimeter and/or spatial dimensions of the beacon, the storage size, color values and/or color intensity of the beacon. Examples of actions can include, but are not limited to creating a cookie value, setting a cookie value, clearing a cookie value, deleting a cookie value and/or initiating multibeaconing activity.
Optionally, additional image requests are received at the management server from the client device over the network and can be redirected to third party systems, thereby enabling the third party systems to read, set and/or re-set third party client identifiers such as, but not limited to, third party cookies.
Optionally, the management server can be configured to select third party systems for redirection based on one or more profiles, parameters, properties or categories such as, but not limited to, categorization of the client device, the content provider, the content, demographic data, inferred demographic data, profiles associated with the client device, geographic data, time, date, browsing history, purchasing history and/or data related to past redirections.
Appendix A is an example of directions for obtaining client instructions.
Appendix B is an example of pseudocode for client instructions
The client instructions 102 can be provided to the client device 110 over the network 130. This can enable the management system 100 to optionally read, set and/or re-set client tracking identifiers such as, but not limited to, third party cookies associated with the management system 100. Client tracking identifiers, the content 120 and/or the client instructions 102 can be stored in one or more storage devices. A storage device can be part of the client device and/or accessible by the client device over a persistent or intermittent connection such as a network.
In an embodiment of the current invention, the client instructions provided to the client device can be selected and/or configured based on one or more properties such as, but not limited to, the known, estimated or inferred properties and/or history of the client device, end-user and/or client software configuration. Examples of properties which can be used to select and/or configure the client instructions can include, but are not limited to, the estimated geographic location of the client device, the browsing history of the end-user, and/or the software version of the browser operating on the client device.
The client instructions 102 can be executed at the client device 110, resulting in the submission of an initial image request 240 to the management system 100 over a network 130. This can enable the management system 100 to optionally read, set and/or reset client tracking identifiers such as, but not limited to, third party cookies associated with the management system 100. For example, providing the opportunity to read, set and/or reset client tracking identifiers at this stage can be useful for cases when a cached copy of client instructions 102 are used.
In response to the initial image request 240, the management server composes and sends a beacon 250 to the client device 110, causing the configuration of a storage device 117, such as storage registers, at the client device 110 for storing a representation 119 of the beacon 250. Examples of storage devices include, but are not limited to, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, storage registers, Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, on-board memory, hard disk storage devices and combinations thereof. In this example, the beacon 250 includes a small, transparent image which can be presented as an element of a web page in a browser window 115 on an output device 118 such as a computer monitor. The beacon 250 can be small and inconspicuous on an output device such as a computer monitor. In some cases, the beacon may not be displayed by the output device or the beacon can be invisible.
According to the current invention, the beacon 250 is composed to trigger the client device to select and execute an action described in the client instructions. The beacon can be composed to select an action based on a variety of considerations. In some cases, the beacon can be composed based at least in part on one or more properties such as but not limited to, the known, estimated or inferred properties and/or history of the client device, end-user and/or client software configuration. Examples of properties which can be used when composing the beacon can include, but are not limited to, the estimated geographic location of the client device, the browsing history of the end-user, and/or the software version of the browser operating on the client device.
Client instructions 102 can further include directions for handling beacons such as beacon 250 received at the client device 110 from the management system 100. For example, in response to the receipt of the beacon 250 from the management system 100, client instructions 102 can direct the client device 110 to assess the properties of the beacon 250 and select and execute an action described in the client instructions 102 based on the properties of the beacon 250. Examples of actions can include, but are not limited to creating a cookie value, setting a cookie value, clearing a cookie value, deleting a cookie value, fetching additional scripts, fetching a Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) and/or initiating multibeaconing activity. The example provided in Appendix B can select and execute three different actions depending on the properties of the beacon (initiate multibeaconing, load another script, or delete a cookie). For example, initiating multibeaconing activity can direct the client device to submit a number of additional image requests 260 to the management system 100 over the network 130. The client instructions 102 can enable the client device 110 to determine the number of additional image requests 260 to send based in part on the properties of the beacon 250 received by the client device 110 from the management system 100. Examples of properties include, but are not limited to, the height, width, area, perimeter and/or spatial dimensions of the beacon, the storage size, color values and/or color intensity of the beacon. In response to the receipt of a beacon 250, the client device 110 can submit additional image requests 260 to the management system 100 which can be redirected to third party systems such as targeted third party servers 140, 142, 144 and 146 by the management system. In this example, the additional image request 260 is redirected to a targeted third party server 140 through the client device 110, enabling the targeted third party servers such as third party server 140 to optionally read, set and/or re-set client tracking identifiers such as, but not limited to, third party cookies on the client device 110. In this example, the number of additional image requests 260 may be configured to equal the number of third party systems targeted for redirection.
For the embodiment of the current invention depicted in
For the embodiment of the current invention depicted in
In the embodiment of the current invention depicted in
The client device 110 depicted in
According to the current invention, the content provider 122 provides the requested content 120 over a network 130 and directs the client device 110 to download client instructions 102 from a management system 100. For the example illustrated in
It is an advantage of some examples of the current invention that the content provider can simply and easily integrate their current operations with a management system by incorporating a small snippet of code into their current content. Although there may be opportunities for a content provider to interact with and/or integrate with a management system, no other integration activities are required by the content provider in order to operate with this embodiment of the current invention.
It is understood that in some cases, the current invention can be configured to use the same set of client instructions for all client devices. However, in some examples according to the current invention, the client instructions can be customized. For example, in some cases, the client instructions can be customized to address the hardware, software and/or firmware configuration of the client device. In some examples, the client instructions can be customized based on one or more parameters such as, but not limited to, the geographical location of the client device and the hardware, software or firmware configuration of the client device. In some examples, the client instructions can be customized per content provider and/or based on the requested content.
In some cases, the requested content 120 may not be provided by the content provider 122 when requested by the client device 110. For example, in some cases, the content 120 may be retrieved from a cache or storage device on the client device 110 or from a cache system available on a local network or intranet. Similarly, the client instructions 102 may not be freshly downloaded from the management system 100. For example, in some cases, the client instructions 102 may be retrieved from a cache or storage device on the client device 110 or from a cache system available on a local network or intranet. Appendix B is an example of pseudocode for client instructions 102. Client instructions can be implemented using a variety of techniques. For example, client instructions 102 can include, but are not limited to, JavaScript™, HTML instructions, ActionScript™ scripts or any combination thereof.
The client instructions 102 can provide the client device 110 with information enabling the client device 110 to select and execute one or more actions described in the client instructions. The properties of the beacon 250 can be configured in a manner that is consistent with the client instructions 102. For operation of the current invention, it is important to keep the logic embedded in the client instructions 102 consistent with the rules that the management system 100 uses to configure the beacon 250. For example, if the logic embedded in the client instructions 102 directs the client device 110 to submit one additional image request 260 per pixel width of the beacon 250, then the management system 100 can construct a beacon 250 using a rule that directs it to create a beacon 250 with a pixel width equal to the desired number of additional image requests 260.
In an embodiment according to the current invention, the client instructions for triggering the client device to select and execute an action can be configured on a per management system basis. However, a variety of other possibilities are envisioned. For example, in some embodiments of the current invention, the client instructions for triggering the client device to select and execute an action can be configured per end-user, per client device, per group of client devices, per content provider and/or per requested content. In some embodiments of the current invention, the client instructions can be customized based on known, estimated and/or inferred properties and/or history associated with the end-user, client configuration and/or client device.
In an embodiment of the current invention, when triggering multibeaconing activities, the management system 100 can construct a beacon 250 with properties based on the targeted number of additional image requests 260. In an embodiment of the current invention, the targeted number of additional image requests 260 can be configured on a per management system 100 basis, with the targeted number of additional image requests 260 set to be the same for all client device interactions; a single list of third party systems can be maintained per management system. The management system can track the redirection of additional image requests to ensure that each additional image request received from a particular client device is redirected to a different third party system on the list.
According to various embodiments of the current invention, the targeted number of additional image requests and/or the list of third party systems can be configured per client device or per group of client devices. For example, an optional configuration interface 110 can be used to configure the management system 100. In some cases, the targeted number of additional image requests, the selection of the list of third party systems and/or the prioritization of the third party systems on the list can be determined when an initial image request is received by selecting the targeted number of additional image requests, the list of third party servers and/or the prioritization of the third party systems on the list based on the identity of the end-user, client configuration, client device or the categorization or grouping of the end-user, client configuration or client device. In other examples according to the current invention, the targeted number of additional image requests, the list of third party systems and/or the prioritization of the third party systems on the list can be configured per client tracking identifier value or per set of client tracking identifier values.
According to various embodiments of the current invention the targeted number of additional image requests, the list of third party systems and/or the prioritization of the third party systems on the list can be based on one or more redirection parameters such as, but not limited to, the properties and/or characteristics of the client device, client configuration and/or end-user, the actual or inferred browsing history associated with the client device, client configuration or end-user, the actual or inferred purchasing history associated with the client device, client configuration or end-user, the actual or inferred history of activity or transactions associated with the client device, client configuration or end-user, actual or inferred demographic data, the time of day, the date, the properties of the initial image request, the identity of the content provider, the values of client tracking identifiers, the service level associated with the original content provider, the geographic location of the client device or end-user, or any combination thereof. For example, a configuration interface can be used to establish configurations based on known, estimated or inferred redirection parameter values or ranges. For example, one redirection configuration may be used to select a list of third party servers for redirection based on identifying client devices associated with male end-users between the ages of 18 and 35 in the city of San Francisco between the hours of 8-10 PM who have previously visited a particular set of websites.
According to some embodiments of the current invention, the selection of targeted third party servers and/or the prioritization of the targeted third party servers can be managed on the management system 100. For example lists or databases can be maintained on the management server and used to select targeted third party servers for redirection. However, in some cases, the targeted third party servers can be provided by an external system, accessible by the management system. For example, in some cases, an external system may maintain a database of third party systems and queries may be submitted to internal and/or external databases to retrieve a complete or partial list of third party systems. In some cases, the complete or partial lists can be prioritized.
According to the current invention, the client device 110 can submit the additional image requests to the management system 100, which are redirected to third party systems such as targeted third party servers 140, 142, 144 and 146. For example, in some cases, the redirection may be accomplished by ending an HTTP command such as a temporary redirect (HTTP 302) to the client device 110. This can be used to direct the client device 110 to submit a new image request to a third party system such as targeted third party servers 140, 142, 144 or 146 thereby enabling the third party server to optionally read, set and/or re-set client tracking identifiers such as, but not limited to, third party cookies on the client device 110.
According to the current invention, the client device 110 can submit the additional image requests to the management system 100, which are redirected to third party systems, in sequence or in parallel. For example, in some cases, the client instructions 102 running on the client device can include control structures which may issue the additional image requests one at a time, waiting for a timer to expire or waiting for a response to each additional image request before submitting the next one. In other cases, the additional image requests may be submitted in parallel or in rapid succession, without waiting for responses.
In an embodiment of the current invention, management system 100 can include modules such as an instruction server 104, a beacon provider 106, an optional receipt module 108, and an optional configuration interface 110. For example, a module such as the instruction server 104 can provide client instructions 102 to a client device 110 over a network 130 in response to a request 220 for client instructions 102. In some cases, the instruction server 104 can access information and/or the client instructions 102 from a system internal or external to the current invention. In some cases, the instruction server 104 can generate or customize client instructions 102 based on the configuration of the management system 100. For various embodiments of the current invention, the client instructions 102 can be customized or generated based on other information such as, but not limited to, the information related to the client device 110 or information related to the content provider 122, or any combination thereof.
A module such as a beacon provider 106 can provide a beacon 250 to a client device 110 in response to an initial image request 240. In some cases, the beacon provider 106 can construct, customize or access a beacon 250 and send it to a client device 110 over a network 130 in response to an initial image request 240, causing the configuration of storage device 117 at the client device 110 for storing a digital representation 119 of the beacon 250. In some cases, the output device 118 associated with the client device 110 can present the beacon 250. The beacon 250 should be constructed or customized so that it is consistent with the client instructions 102 served by the management system.
A module such as receipt module 108 can receive an additional image request 260 over a network 130. In some cases, the receipt module can redirect the additional image request 260 to a third party server 140. In some cases, the receipt module 108 can access internal and/or external databases or systems to identify and/or prioritize the appropriate third party server to use as a target for the redirection. In some cases, a module such as a receipt module 108 can keep track of redirection history per client and use this, in part, to identify and/or prioritize the appropriate third party server to use as a target for the redirection.
The order of the steps in the foregoing described methods of the invention are not intended to limit the invention; the steps may be rearranged.
Foregoing described embodiments of the invention are provided as illustrations and descriptions. They are not intended to limit the invention to precise form described. In particular, it is contemplated that functional implementation of invention described herein may be implemented equivalently in hardware, software, firmware, and/or other available functional components or building blocks, and that networks may be wired, wireless, or a combination of wired and wireless. Other variations and embodiments are possible in light of above teachings, and it is thus intended that the scope of invention not be limited by this Detailed Description, but rather by Claims following.
APPENDIX A
<!-- Start Quantcast tag -->
<script type=
“text/javascript” src=“//secure.quantserve.com/quant.js”></script>
<script type=“text/javascript”>
_qacct=“p-9fYuixa7g_Hm2”;quantserve( );</script>
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Appendix B
/* Start Instructions */
function del_cookie(name) {
document.cookie = name + ‘=; expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT;’;
}
function void_onload( ) {return;}
function initial_onload( ) {
var width = initial_img.width;
var height = initial_img.height;
if (width == 2) {
// do multibeaconing
for (int i = 1; i <= height; i++) {
var additional_img = new Image(1,1);
additional_img.src =
“http://beacon.quantserve.com/additional_pixel.gif”;
additional_img.onload = function( ) {void onload( ); }
}
} else if (width == 3) {
// load another script
document.write(‘<’ + ‘script language=
“javascript” type=“text/javascript”
src=“http://secure.quantserve.com/secondary.js”’ + ‘>’
+‘</’ + ‘script’+ ‘>’);
} else if (width == 4) {
// delete a cookie
del_cookie(“id”);
}
}
var initial_img = new Image;
initial_img.src = “http://beacon.quantserve.com/initial_pixel.gif”;
initial_img.onload = function( ) {initial_onload( );}
/* End Instructions */
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